COLUMBUS, Ohio — Higher education is ever-changing and The Ohio State University is trying to keep up with, and stay ahead of, those changes.
The university’s “Framework 3.0” plan was presented at a meeting Thursday morning. That plan doesn’t direct how the university will grow, but does provide some guidance of how it could look.
"We're seeing that students really care about the quality of their teaching labs, the research opportunities they have. Those are things that are pretty important to students as they are choosing where they go to school,” said Amanda Hoffsis, vice president of Planning, Architecture and Real Estate for Ohio State.
To gather this information, university leaders sat down with around 400 students in listening sessions and more than 4,300 people through online surveys to come up with what the future of the university would look like.
Hoffsis said a prevailing theme from students was equity in amenities. As it is now, students can have vastly different experiences depending where they are on the campus.
"The students say 'listen, my friend lives in this dorm and takes classes in these buildings and they have a very different experience than I have living in this dorm and going to school in these buildings,’” Hoffsis said.
Students today are in a dramatically different environment than just a few years ago. COVID-19 changed how students learn in the classroom.
Hoffsis said now there is a bigger demand for lab spaces. One topic of the meeting was how there appears to be 20% more office space than is needed, while lab space is 20% short of where the demand is.
One first-year student came all the way from New Jersey. She said she fell in love with the campus on a visit, but there are some things students are looking for such as community and also up-to-date facilities.
"Dorm rooms. It doesn't have to be anything fancy, but something livable and something somebody can be in and feel like it's their own place and feel comfortable,” said Courtney Askin.
Recommendations like those are represented in the "Framework 3.0" plan’s short and mid-term goals over the next decade or so, but also even longer – some growth plans extend as far as 50 years down the road.
The plan doesn’t authorize these updates, just suggests them. Any actual updates, replacements, or building projects would have to be authorized by the Board of Trustees first.
As central Ohio is expected to grow to more than three million people in the next 30 years, university leaders must also look at the anticipated growth of the student body as well.
"The rate of growth, we are prepared for it no matter what it is. If it's faster in early years or slower in early years and speeds up later, whichever way it goes, our plan can adapt to that,” she said .
As of now, here are the planning priorities for Ohio State:
- Renovations to Hughes Hall and Ramseyer Hall along with replacement of Evans Laboratory.
- A new classroom and lab building west of Stillman Hall.
- Renovation of the south residence halls along with additional residence halls considered for the North Residential District.
- Athletics projects such as an ice arena and Woody Hayes Complex addition.
- Expansion of the newly opened James Outpatient Care at Carmenton.
- Wexner Medical Center projects including Harding Hospital replacement and Ross Heart Hospital Expansion.
- Additional Health Sciences buildings allowing for the demolition of Meiling Hall.
- A focus on outdoor spaces including the Oval, Woody Hayes Drive streetscapes and overpass improvements and murals along Woody Hayes, Lane Avenue and Ackerman Road.
The "Framework 3.0" plan outlines round 20 different projects, but Ohio State leaders said it's more of a guide on how to evolve in the coming years. It considers factors like deferred maintenance and how people work in a post-pandemic world.